Why it works: Vinegar and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Raspberry Shrub
Ingredients
Directions
Macerate the berries
Fill a jar with red raspberries.
Pour enough vinegar to cover the berries.
Let it stand overnight.
Strain and make the syrup
In the morning, mash the berries.
Strain the mixture through a coarse bag.
To every pint of juice, add 1 lb of sugar.
Boil for 20 minutes.
Skim off any foam.
Bottle the syrup.
Serve
Dilute the syrup with water when serving.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Red raspberries
- Provide the main fruit flavor, aroma and color of the shrub.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives the shrub its sharp, tangy character and helps preserve it.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the vinegar's sharpness and helps preserve the syrup.
The step that matters
Boil the syrup. The sugar must fully dissolve into the juice, and the mixture must be hot enough to keep the syrup stable for bottling. Skimming removes foam that would otherwise spoil the texture.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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